Adjustable beam turn-up and beam turn-down arms for cooling bed service

ABSTRACT

The disclosure of this invention relates to a beam rotating device as used in a rolling mill operation in the production of steel beams. In the illustrated form a beam to be rotated is received and supported by one of two supporting arms, which arm is located in a horizontal position. The arms are tied together so that on rotation of 90*, the beam is transferred to the second arm from the first arm. The arms are formed of threaded shafts having collared ends. By rotating the shafts the collared ends can be moved into a supporting position with supportable portions of a beam, even though the beams may vary in size, within the range of the adjustment allowed by the threaded shafts.

United States Patent 1 Urris ADJUSTABLE BEAM TURN-UP AND BEAM TURN-DOWN ARMS FOR COOLING BED SERVICE [75] Inventor: John A. Orris, Mars, Pa.

[73] Assignee: United Engineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: July 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 163,846

[ June 12, 1973 3,236,396 2/1966 Goodberlet 214/1 QG Primary Examiner-Milton S. Mehr Att0rney-Henry C. Westin 57 ABSTRACT The disclosure of this invention relates to a beam rotating device as used in a rolling mill operation in the production of steel beams. In the illustrated form a beam to be rotated is received and supported by one of two supporting arms, which arm is located in a horizontal position. The arms are tied together so that on rotation of 90, the beam is transferred to the second arm from the first arm. The arms are formed of threaded shafts having collared ends. By rotating the shafts the collared ends can be moved into a supporting position with supportable portions of a beam, even though the beams may vary in size, within the range of the adjustment allowed by the threaded shafts.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures FAME!) m 1 2 an INVENTOR JOHN A. ORRIS HENRY c. WESTIN ATTORNEY It is the present practice in the steel structural producing industry to provide turning devices that rotate the workpieces from a horizontal to a vertical or upright position or vice versa. I-Ieretofore, the beam supporting arms of these devices have had a fixed length designed for the maximum size beam to be handled, even though the size of the beams varied considerably. This meant that the smaller sized beams were placed by the turning device on the receiving conveyance at the same spacing as the largest beam.

In the important interest of obtaining maximum efficiency out of the receiving conveyance, the present invention provides for adjusting in length at least one of the supporting arms of the turning device so that it need only be as long as the particular beam being rotated requires.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a workpiece turning or rotating device having a first support member arranged to support the outside surface of one of the sides of a workpiece, second and third support members arranged in a common plane and perpendicular to the plane containing the support surface of the first support members, means for adjusting at least one of the second or third support members in accordance with the particular size of a workpiece, and power means connected to one of said support members for rotating said support members in unison from a first position to a second position.

These objects, as well as other novel features and advantages of the present invention, will become more 2 jecting to the left as one views FIG. 1 and having at its outer end a beam supporting member in the form of an enlarged collar 14. At the back of the threaded shaft 13 there is provided a square projecting end 16 for receivapparent when the following description is read along with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a beam turning device incorporating the features of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an end view of the beam turning device illustrated in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on lines 3-3 of FIG. 1.

With reference to the aforesaid drawings, it will be noted that FIG. 1 illustrates a rolledbeam B supported by a roller table, one roller of which is indicated at 8, the beam B being shown in an upright position in readiness to be rotated from this position to a horizontal position. With reference to the roller 8, FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically the top surface 10 of the conveyance apparatus that receives the beam once it has been rotated and which conveys it in a horizontal direction from left to right, during which period the beam may pass through a cooling cycle. It should also be noted that once the cycle is completed it may be desirable, depending on subsequent processing operation to which the beams are to be subjected, to employ a similar device to that-illustrated in the drawings for rotating the beams from the phantom horizontal position to the phantom vertical position.

In this context the device illustrated in FIG. 1 constitutes a turn-down instrument, whereas, in the latter case, it would be exployed as a turning-up instrument for the beams. The turning device illustrated comprises a first arm 11 which, in FIGS. 1 and 2, is shown in an upright position and a second arm 12, shown in a horizontal position, which arms are perpendicular to each other. The arm 12 comprises a threaded shaft 13 proing a wrench so that the shaft 13 can be adjusted to present the collared portion 14 in a desired supporting position with respect to the adjacent outside surface of the flange of the beam B.

Similarly, the art ll comprises a threaded shaft 18 having at its outer end an enlarged collar 19, the inner portion of the shaft 18 being threadably received in the housing portion 21 of the arm assembly 11 and having at its inner projecting end a square end 22 to which a wrench may be connected, as in the case of the shaft 13. The shaft 18, accordingly, can be adjusted so that its collar 19 can be ideally positioned with respect to a beam B. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the length of the shaft 18 approximates the height of the beam in which the collar 19 has been positioned to engage and support the edge of the outside flange of the beam.

The support for the arm assemblies 11 and 12 comprises a base member 25, on the top surface of which there are provided two spaced-apart bearing blocks 26 which rotatably support a horizontal shaft 27. FIG. 2 illustrates the construction feature that the base 25 is offset to the left of the arm assemblies 11 and 12 and comprises two spaced-apart upright members 25a and 25b. The arm assemblies 11 and 12 are connected to the shaft 27 by a downwardly projecting bracket 28 which is keyed to the shaft by one of the keys illustrated and associated with the shaft in FIG. 1. Also keyed to the shaft 27 directly above the space provided between the upright members 25a and 25b of the base 25 is an arm 31 projecting downwardly from the shaft 27, the lower end of which is rotatably connected to a pin 32 as shown in FIG. 3. As FIG. 3 illustrates, between the pin 32 and the arm 31 there is provided a roller bearing 33 which allows the arm 31 to move relative to the pin 32. Also associated with the pin, as illustrated in FIGS. 2' and 3, outward of the arm 31 are a pair of links 36 which extend in a general horizontal direction to the right of the shaft 27, the outer end of which is connected to a pin 37 and which is allowed to rotate relative to the pin by a roller bearing 38. It will be appreciated that the pin-bearing construction 37 and 38 is similar to the pin-bearing construction 32 and 33. Also associated with the pin 37 and connected to it inwardly of the two links 36 is a substantially vertical arm 41 which is pivotally connected to the base 25 by a pin 42 through the intermediary of the roller bearing 43, which construction allows the arm 41 to move relative to the pin 42.

Connected to the back of the arm 41 towards its upper end is a piston rod 46 of a piston cylinder assembly 47, the connection between the arm 41 and the rod .46 being similar to the other connections and consisting of a pin 49 and bearing 51 which allows relative movement between a clevis of the piston rod 46 and the arm 41. The piston cylinder assembly 47 is supported by a sliding block 53 which is moved along a plane containing the axis of the piston by a worm-wheel jack 54. It might be well to point out here that the jack is employed to provide an additional stroke for the cylinder 47 when it is desirable to ambush the turning device to a position below the conveyance apparatus 10 which is the position the device is caused to assume when not in use with the conveyance apparatus.

In briefly describing the operation of the illustrated device, as noted previously, beams B of various heights are received by the turning device, in which connection the shaft 18 of the arm 11 will be adjusted so that its collar 19 will engage the edge of the outer flange of the beams. By doing this on rotation of the device succeeding beams may be placed very close to each other, thereby utilizing the full capacity of the conveyance apparatus 10. Once the beam B and the arm assembly 11 and 12 are positioned, as indicated in FIG. 1, the piston cylinder assembly 47 can be operated to cause the tuming device to rotate 90 wherein the collar 14 of the arm assembly 12 will engage the innermost flange of the beam B and lift it from the roller 8 while the other flange is engaged and supported by the collar 19 of the arm 11. Continued rotation of the arms rotates the beams from the upright position to the horizontal position illustrated in phantom in FIG. 1, wherein the arm 11 passes below the conveyance apparatus 10 which ultimately will support the beam B and move it in a horizontal direction away from the turning device. The turning device will be employed in a similar manner for each succeeding beam B, which is of the same size as the first beam. When a group of beams of a different size are received from the roller table 8, the arms 11 and 12 will be adjusted in accordance with the new dimensions of the new group, thereby assuring that the length of the arms, and particularly the length of the arm 11, will not distract from a full utilization of the conveyance apparatus 10.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for transferring from a first position to a second position structurally rolled workpieces of varying sizes having two opposed flanges joined together by a cross web arranged perpendicular to the two flanges,

a transfer device for receiving the workpieces to be transferred,

said device including a first support member arranged to support the outside surface of one of said flanges of a workpiece,

second and third support members arranged in a common plane and perpendicular to the plane containing the support surface of said first support member,

said second support member arranged to support one of the edges of said flange of said workpiece supportable by said first member,

said third support member arranged to support the edge of the other flange of said workpiece in a manner that said third support member will be maintained substantially within the extremities of the workpiece,

means for adjusting said third support member to position said third member in said supporting relationship with a second and different size workpiece, and

power means connected to said device for causing said device to rotate from said first position to said second position.

2. In an apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said third support member comprises a threaded shaft,

a workpiece support element secured to the outer end of said shaft,

said second support member including means for threadably supporting said shaft, and

means for rotating said shaft to adjust the effective length thereof relative to said first support memher.

3. In an apparatus according to claim 1 including a base,

linkage means pivotally connected to said base having an end for carrying said device,

a piston cylinder assembly connected to a second end of said linkage means for causing said rotation of said device.

4. In an apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said first support member comprises,

a shaft having a workpiece support element secured to its outer end, and means for rotating said shaft to adjust the position of its support element with respect to various size workpieces in a manner that said support element will be maintained substantially within the extremities of the workpieces. 

1. In an apparatus for transferring from a first position to a second position structurally rolled workpieces of varying sizes having two opposed flanges joined together by a cross web arranged perpendicular to the two flanges, a transfer device for receiving the workpieces to be transferred, said device including a first support member arranged to support the outside surface of one of said flanges of a workpiece, second and third support members arranged in a common plane and perpendicular to the plane containing the support surface of said first support member, said second support member arranged to support one of the edges of said flange of said workpiece supportable by said first member, said third support member arranged to support the edge of the other flange of said workpiece in a manner that said third support member will be maintained substantially within the extremities of the workpiece, means for adjusting said third support member to position said third member in said supporting relationship with a second and different size workpiece, and power means connected to said device for causing said device to rotate from said first position to said second position.
 2. In an apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said third support member comprises a threaded shaft, a workpiece support element secured to the outer end of said shaft, said second support member including means for threadably supporting said shaft, and means for rotating said shaft to adjust the effective length thereof relative to said first support member.
 3. In an apparatus according to claim 1 including a base, linkage means pivotally connected to said base having an end for carrying said device, a piston cylinder assembly connected to a second end of said linkage means for causing said rotation of said device.
 4. In an apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said first support member comprises, a shaft having a workpiece support element secured to its outer end, and means for rotating said shaft to adjust The position of its support element with respect to various size workpieces in a manner that said support element will be maintained substantially within the extremities of the workpieces. 